Welcome to LALos Angeles is a city carved out of the desert – a conjured image of paradise. These are the stories of people who learn what lies beyond the dream – yacht parties with theremin makers that end on the rocks, low-budget filmmaking that blurs the line between truth and fiction, movie stars and Hollywood hopefuls whose stories seem too crazy to be true. Welcome to Los Angeles.

Lost NotesThe greatest music stories never told. Explore the amazing stories of how 60s rock hit “Louie, Louie” triggered an FBI investigation, the outlaw Brooklyn radio station WBAD that tracked the rise of 90s hip hop, and the man who went from Folsom Prison inmate to Johnny Cash’s bandmate.

To the PointA weekly reality-check on the issues Americans care about most. Host Warren Olney draws on his decades of experience to explore the people and issues shaping – and disrupting - our world. How did everything change so fast? Where are we headed? The conversations are informal, edgy and always informative. If Warren's asking, you want to know the answer.

FROM THIS EPISODE

This week, hoping to put an end to the "birther" controversy, President Obama publicly released his long-form birth certificate and discussed the matter in a press briefing. What were his motivations for injecting himself into a debate that has been deemed trivial by his supporters? How trivial is the issue? Recent polls estimate that 25 percent of Americans believe Obama was born in another country, and Donald Trump has brought a renewed focus to the controversy.

Also this week, the President announced the new leaders of his national security team. Leon Panetta will become the Secretary of Defense, and General David Petraeus will head the CIA, formerly run by Panetta. Both are respected leaders in their fields, but are they the right people for the jobs? Does this signal a shift in CIA’s role and relationship with the Pentagon? Will there be a broader emphasis on counterterrorism efforts over intelligence gathering? Finally this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held the first news conference in the institution's history. Is transparency at the Fed a good idea? Did Bernanke give any satisfactory answers regarding unemployment and inflation? (Guest panelist Mary Matalin sits in for Arianna Huffington.)

Banner image: President Barack Obama waits in the Blue Room of the White House before announcing personnel changes. Standing with the President (from L) are Vice President Joe Biden, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and General David Petraeus. Official White House photo: Pete Souza, April 28, 2011